Multiple sanding and polishing machine



April 20, 1965 J. N. ICLYNE 3,178,860

MULTIPLE SANDING AND POLISHING MACHINE Filed Sept. 20, 1961 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

JOSEPH N CLYNE ATTORNEY FIG:

April 1965 J N. CLYNE 3,178,860

MULTIPLE SANDING AND POLISHING MACHINE Filed Sept. 20, 1961 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

JOSEPH N CLYNE ATTORNEY April 20, 1965 J1. ClLY NEI MULTIPLE SANDING AND POLI'SHIZNG' NW6HI IHZT Filed Sept. 20. 1961 drxo: ofi v: N: m: QM TILE- ouT- 3.

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INV EN TOR.

JOSEPH N. cums BY ATTORNEY April 20, 1965 J. N. CLYNE 3,178,360

MULTIPLE SANDING AND POLISHING MACHINE Filed Sept. 20, 1961 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR.

JOSEPH N. C LYNE ATTORNEY April 20, 1965 Filed J- N. CLYNE MULTIPLE SANDING AND POLISHING MACHINE Sept. 20, 1961 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 I Fl6.|2 FIG.|3 (R478 9 298 C 1 3 (63 9 29h mmmmmummmmmmnmfimmmmmmmmmmm 7 (g) D [.23 Z2 8 0 LRQB FIG. I4

298 J1 NE FIG. l5

INVENTOR.

JOSEPH N CLYNE A TTORN E Y United States Patent 3,178,860 MULTIPLE SANDING AND POLISHING MACHINE Joseph N. Clyne, 952 West Shore Drive, Culver, Ind. Filed Sept. 20, 1961, Ser. No. 139,383 Oairns. (Cl. 51--138) The present invention relates to sanding and polishing machines and more particularly to machines for sanding and polishing one or more surfaces of molded and plane strips and sheets of solid material, including wood, plastic and metal.

In many manufacturing processes it is necessary to sand, grind, and/ or polish wood, metal and synthetic materials which are in the form of strips. Frequently the strips are molded; i.e. they have longitudinal ridges and depressions of varying width, depth and cross sectional form, as well as having curved or fiat faces at various angles. Conventionaily, there are machines for sanding and polishing one or two surfaces in .a single pass, as well as machines for cutting down and sizing material, removing knife marks caused by a planer or molder operation, cutting down patches and surface sanding, or sanding moldings of various contours. However, if it is desired to carry out more than one of these operations on a piece of material, it is necessary to use a separate machine for each of the operations. For example, if a long strip of wood with the two long sides molded is to be sanded, it is conventionally necessary to sand the broadrfiat surfaces of the sheet by sending it through a belt sander of a well known type, and then sanding each of the molded edges in a separate machine. This operation is especially difiicult and expensive if the two molded edges are of different form and if the sheet is very long. Furthermore, each machine is expensive and requires a large floor area, thus requiring a large initial expenditure. Therefore, one principal object of the present invention is to provide a single sanding and polishing machine which will sand any number of longitudinal surfaces, either plane or molded, at any angle to the vertical.

An additional object of the present invention is to provide a sanding and polishing machine which will work all longitudinal surfaces of a piece of any length on a single pass.

A further object of the invention i to provide a machine which can be used with a belt as a belt sander, polisher or buffer or with solid or brush-backed shaped or plain sanding drum-s, or buffer wheels, and which can use various combinations of these at once.

Still another object is to provide such a machine which can be quickly modified from any type of belt or wheel to any other type without special tools or trained personnel.

Another object of this invention is to provide a sanding and polishing machine which can quickly and easily be modified to sand, polish or buff surfaces at any desired angle, and which can sand or polish molded and other irregular surfaces.

While sanding, it is desirable to keep the pressure constant on the molded edges for even sanding and polishing, and for the protection of veneered woods, but this is ditficult to accomplish when the wood or other material is curved, as with some chair legs, for example. Therefore, it is a further object of this invention to provide a sander and polisher which will keep the sanding pressure at an adjustable constant level even on short pieces of curved material.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a belt sander in which the tension of the belt i continuously adjustable over a wide range and can be kept constant at any desired value over a long period of time, thus prolonging the life of the belt and allowing for ready replacement of both the belt and the sanding and polishing heads.

A further object of the invention is to provide a belt sander and polisher in which the pressure of the work on the sanding and polishing heads is readily adjustable over a wide range and in which accommodation can be made quickly for different sizes of material by merely loosening a few nuts, shifting the fences and rolls, and tightening the nuts again.

An additional object is to provide such a machine which is simple in design, safe and easy to operate and repair, and which is readily installed for a maximum number of varied operations.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description and accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a top plan view of the present sanding and polishing machine, with many details being shown schematically, to show the relationship of the various Darts;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view of the machine shown in FIGURE 1, again shown schematically;

FIGURE 3 is a side elevational view of a top polishing head, with the sanding belt removed;

FIGURE 4 is an end view of a bracket for the leadon roll and polishing shoe of the top polishing head;

FIGURE 5 is a side elevational view of a bracket slide utilized in the invention;

FIGURE 6 is a top plan view of the bracket slide shown in the preceding figure;

FIGURE 7 is an end elevational view of the idler pulley and bracket of the top polishing head;

FIGURE. 8 is a fragmentary end elevational view of the top polishing head;

FIGURE 9 is a fragmentary top elevational view of the top polishing head;

FIGURE 10 is a top plan view of a side head sanding unit used with my invention;

FIGURE 11 is a fragmentary back elevational view of the side sanding head shown in FIGURE 8, with the sanding belt removed;

FIGURE 12 is a top plan view of a pivot bracket for a work fence used with the present invention;

FIGURE 13 is a side elevational view of the pivot bracket shown in FIGURE 10;

FIGURE 14 is a top plan view of a work fence adjustment screw and bracket used with the present invention; and

FIGURE 15 is a side elevational view of the adjust ment screw and bracket shown in the preceding figure.

For the purpose of the present description, 21 unit designed specifically for chair legs and other short curved pieces will be described herein. However, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to this particular unit, but may be modified in size, number and position of sanding and polishing units, and other parts, for example the number of feed and idler rolls, to accommodate various types and sizes of Work.

The sanding and polishing machine includes a machine stand or table 10 having top surfaces 12 and 14 and a conveyor belt 16, and including a control panel 18 and emergency stop button 2%. Since there is usually considerable wear on the conveyor due to blows when the pieces to be worked are placed on it and due to the pressure exerted by the mechanisms pressure rolls, a separate feed conveyor 22 is provided running at a higher surface speed than belt 16, supported by idler roll 24 and drive roll 26, mounted rotatably on axles 28 and 30, axle 3t) and drive roll 26 being rotated by a motor (not shown) within feed table 34, or being chain driven from a variable speed motor in machine stand 10, said motor operating both conveyor belts 16 and 22, shown in FIGURES 1 and 2 extending to the right of machine stand 10. Disposed above the conveyor 22 vertically above idler roll 24 is a feed roll 36 mounted on bracket 38. This and subsequent feed rolls are of conventional design and will not be described herein. An additional feed roll 40 may be mounted above the conveyor if desired.

Main conveyor belt 16 runs on idler rolls 42, 44 and 46, and drive roll 48 turned by a motor (not shown) connected to axle 50 of roll 48. This main conveyor belt may consist of composition rubber or a chain with lugs or other fixtures, or the entire system of idler rolls 42, 44 and 46, drive roll 48, and belt 16, may be replaced by a roller bed, the only requirement for the conveyor system being that it run smoothly at a constant rate independently of the pressure on it or. of the size of the pieces being worked. Also, in some cases the stock may be pushed through the machine on a bed plate 'without the use of conveyor 16. The conveyor does not extend the full length of machine stand 10, but ends to allow the bottom surface of the work to be sanded and polished, if desired, by sanding unit 52. Additionally, in the present embodiment, sanding of the sides of the work is done only after the bottom and top have been sanded with the work moving from right to left in FIGURES 1 and 2, and is performed by side sanding head 54. The work is kept moving after it leaves the conveyor by the pressure of the work coming behind it, and is pushed to outfeed table 55. To insure that the pressure, and thus the movement, is constant and steady, feed conveyor 22 usually operates at a faster rate than the main conveyor and is relatively smooth to allow slippage of the. work, thus. causing the pieces to butt up against one another even when they are placed in a spaced relation on the feed conveyor by the man or machine loading the sander. Disposed above the conveyor and machine stand are a series of rolls, for example pressure feed rolls 56 and 58, hold-down shoe 60, and bottom head work pressure roll 62, to insure that the. pieces of work remain on the conveyor and machine table in the desired relationship, and especially to assure that the pressure of the work on bottom head 52 is constantly the desired amount.

Disposed above conveyor belt 16 near theright end of machine stand 10 are top sanding head 68 and top polishing head 70, as seen in FIGURES 1 and 2. Top polishing head 70 is shown in greater detail in FIGURES 3 through 9, and includes idler pulley 72, drive pulley 74 turned by motor 76, lead-on roll 78 and polishing shoe 80. The abrasive belt used with this mechanism, although not shown in FIGURE 3, extends aroundidler pulley 72 from drive pulley 74, past lead-on roll 78, is pressed against work passing below the top head by polishing shoe 80, and thence returns to drive pulley 74. In operation, the belt runs counterclockwise as seen in FIG- URE 3.

The pulleys are supported by a structure based on support columns 82 and 84 connected at a right angle by a trunnion 86. Column 82 is horizontally placed and rigidly supported by a stand 88, and has a motor support plate 90 welded or otherwise securely attached to Adjusting bracket 94 consists of a pair of side supports 100 and 102, connected at the top by cross bar 104, through which extends screw 106 turned by crank han dle 108. Adjusting bracket slide 96 consists of a flat plate 110 with a projection 112 extending into the space between side supports 100 and 102 and held in'position by a tongue 114 extending into a groove (not shown) in each of side supports 100 and 102. Screw 106 operates in a hole 118 in projection 112 to raise and lower ad- 'justing bracket slide 96 for different sizes of stock, different amounts of stock removal during the operation of the machine, or different sizes of tool attached to the adjusting bracket system. Bolts 120 extend outwardly from bracket slide 96 to hold tool bracket 98, in this case supporting lead-on roll 78 and polishing shoe 80, although in other cases, for example on top sanding head 68, supporting a sanding drum, a brush backed roll, or the like.

Held in place on support column 84 by a pivot is an idler bracket, shown in FIGURES 3, 5 and 7, consisting of a rectangular frame 134 and an upwardly and outwardly extending rack 136 supported by triangular braces 137. Frame 134 is held in an adjustable position at any desired angle with the horizontal about pivot 130 by a pneumatic cylinder 138, hinged to bracket 140 extending from support column 84, and piston 142 of the cylinder is attached to frame 134 by axle 144. Air is supplied to this pneumatic cylinder by flexible lines 146 and 148 connected to a supply of air (not shown) through valve 150. I Idler pulley 72 is supported in rack 136 by an axle 152, one end of which is attached to upwardly extending projection 154 from side 156 of frame 134, and the other side is attached to idler tracking adjustment 158 through projection 160 of rack 136. Tracking adjustment 158 consists of a journal 164 for receiving the end of axle 152 and held in adjustable position by screw 166 operating through bracket 168 attached to projection 160. A guide 170 is placed on three sides of journal 164 to protect it and to allow it to operate only in a straight line;

To prepare unit 70 for use, piston 142 is withdrawn into cylinder 138, thus allowing an abrasive belt to be quickly and easily placed in position around pulleys 72 and 74, lead-on roll 78 and polishing shoe 80. As soon as thebelt is loosely placed, piston 142 is extended, tightening the belt by pressing idler pulley 72 against it. If the belt exhibits any tendency to crawl oil the pulleys while in operation, this tendency can be corrected by adjusting screw 166 and journal 164, thus changing the angle of axle 152 with the horizontal and stopping the creeping of the belt. If the angle of the axle of the idler pulley is so far from the desired angle that it cannot be corrected by'adjusting screw 166, trunnion 86 can be loosened and supporting column 84 adjusted to the desired angle. With the mechanism for tightening the belt described here, the belt tension tends to remain constant over a long period of use, since the pressure in cylinder 138 is constant and thus holds idler pulley 72 against the belt at a constant pressure.

Side sanding head 54 is essentially similar to top head polishing unit 70, but ditfers in details; similar parts are numbered the same. Motor 76 is attached to support plate 90, which is Welded to a support column horizontally disposed, as seen in- FIGURES 10 and 11. Welded rigidly to the opposite end ,of column 180 is col- 'umn 182 at a right angle to column 180. Side head adjustment bracket 184 slides on column 182 and is held rigidly in a desired position by bolts 186 and 188, sliding in slots 190 and 192 when they are loosened and the bracket repositioned. Axle support and bearing 194 for side head roll 196 is bolted to and held in place by upwardly extending projection 198 of bracket 184, but the axle support may be replaced by one for a brush backed roll, a sanding drum, polishing unit, or the like, by merely unbolting the support shown and replacing it with the desired one.

Idler pulley 72 of side sanding head 54 is mounted on a bracket 199 connected to side head idler pivot arm 200,

ivoted by mechanism 202 connected to column 182.

An idler tracking adjustment204 including guide 206, journal 208, and screw 210, isutilized in the same manner as the adjustment for top head polishing unit 70. Pivot arm 200 is adjusted and held in its adjusted position by pneumatic cylinder 212, pivotally attached to column 180 by member 214 and supplied with air through tubes 216 and 218. Piston 220 is attached to pivot arm 200 by pivot assembly 222. The idler pulley and associate mechanism operate in a similar manner to that for the top polishing head 70.

Unit 54 is supported by trunnion 230 attached near the center of column 180 and held in position on a column 232 by a screw 234 operating in hole 236 of projection 238 of trunnion 230. Screw 234 is supported by cap 240 rigidly connected as by welding to the top of column 232. Column 232 is supported near the side of machine table by a shelf 242. Head unit 54 is adjusted in its height above the table by turning screw 234, thus moving trunnion 230 up or down the screw, and carrying the unit with it. Since sanding unit 54 is supported by a trunnion on a single column, it is relatively easy to adjust this unit to sand an edge which is at an angle with the vertical. This is accomplished by merely raising the unit or column 232 sufiiciently to insure the sanding head does not touch machine table surface 14 when the unit is at the desired angle to the horizontal (equal to the angle of the edge to be sanded to the vertical), and after raising the unit, loosening trunnion 230, turning the unit to the desired angle about column 180, and tightening the trunnion again.

Fence 250 is used to hold work, both curved and straight, against the abrasive belt of unit 54 at a constant pressure, and is supported by a duplicate pair of constant pressure brackets 252 and 254, only one of which will be described. Bracket 252 includes a base 256 attached rigidly in a selected position to surface 12 of machine table 10 by bolts 258 and 260. In one corner of the base, a pivotal mount 262 supports one end of a swinging arm 264 which is connected at its other end to a pivoting support 266 for fence 250. Bracket 268 in an adjacent corner of base 256 has a bolt 270 loosely placed through a hole near its top and connected to arm 264 by a pivot 272, while spring 274 encircles this bolt and abuts bracket 268 and pivot 272, forcing them apart. The motion of spring 274 is limited by nut 276, screwed in an adjustable position onto the end of bolt 270 and extending beyond the walls of the hole in bracket 268 on the opposite side of the bracket from the spring. This structure, as seen in FIGURES 12 and 13, holds fence 250 at a spaced distance from bracket 252 at a pressure determined by the compression of spring 274. By using two brackets 252 and 254, fence 250 is able to hold work against the abrasive belt of unit 54 at a constant pressure, since with small variations in compression, the pressure of spring 274 is relatively constant.

Other fences, such as the one denoted by 278, are held in position by brackets 280 and 282, and merely retain the work over the desired portion of the conveyor belt. Bracket 280 consists of a base 286, one end of which is welded to fence 2'78, and the other end bears an upward projection 287 to receive stem 288 of a screw 290 through a hole in it. Longitudinal slots 292, 294 and 296 extend through base 286 between fence 278 and projection 287, bolts 298 extending through outer slots 292 and 296, while an upwardly extending portion 300 of surface 12 of table 10 is received in slot 294 and has screw 290 extending through a hole in its upper end. When the position of fence 278 is to be changed, bolts 298 are loosened and screw 290 is turned by turning knob 302, moving bracket 280 with respect to portion 300. After the desired position of fence 2'78 has been reached, bolts 298 are tightened again, insuring that the fence will remain in position even under the force imposed by the vibration of the operating sanding machine.

In the present apparatus, bottom sanding head 52 is a conventional type consisting of a simple drive pulley 304, run by a motor (not shown), a sanding roll 306, and an abrasive belt 308. In other applications of the invention, this sanding head might well be replaced by one of the more complex designs described herein, or a modification thereof, and more than one sanding and/or polishing head might be used.

In the operation of the present apparatus, pieces of wood, plastic, or metal, for example chair legs, rails, drawer fronts, and the like, are placed on the infeed belt 22 and are fed onto conveyor 16, butting against one another at the same time. Roll 58 prevents them from being forced off the conveyor by the pressure of the material coming behind them, and their tops are sanded by top sanding head 68 and then polished by head unit 70. After leaving unit 70, the pieces are pressed at a predetermined pressure against bottom sanding head 52 and are then sanded by side sanding head 54. Thus, in one pass through the sanding machine, three sides of the work are sanded without requiring any handling except that of placing the pieces in the machine and removing them. The finished pieces are forced onto outfeed table 55 where they can be removed and stacked by a man or machine as desired.

Although only one embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail herein, various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, the sanding and polishing units may be increased in number for various uses, some being added to sand and/or polish surfaces not sanded by the embodiment described. Also, the order of the sanding and polishing units along the machine table may be changed. For example, the bottom sanding head may be placed between conveyor 22 and conveyor 16 in some applications.

I claim:

1. A multiple sanding and polishing machine comprising a machine table having a top surface, a conveyor operating on said top surface and being of shorter length than said table, a feed table having a feed conveyor thereon for feeding work to be sanded and polished onto said first mentioned conveyor at a rate greater than that of said first conveyor so that slippage takes place on said feed conveyor, a top sanding head including a support, a bracket pivotally connected to said support, an idler pulley supported by said bracket, means for supporting said bracket in a chosen position, an adjusting bracket attached to said support, an adjusting slide mounted on said adjusting bracket, means for moving said adjusting slide and holding it in adjusted position, a side sanding head including a support column, a support connected to said support column, an adjusting bracket connected slidably to said second mentioned support, a bracket, a pivot connecting said second mentioned bracket to said second mentioned support, a side head idler pulley supported by said second mentioned bracket, means mounted on said second mentioned support to hold said second mentioned bracket in a selected position, means for moving said second mentioned support along said support column, a fence for holding work against said side sanding head at a predetermined pressure, and a constant pressure bracket for said fence including an arm connected to said top surface of said machine table, a support connecting said arm with said fence, a positioning bracket mounted on said top surface of said machine table, and extending to said arm for holding said arm in a selected position at a constant pressure, said feed table, top sanding head, and side sanding head being spaced one from another along the length of said machine table.

2. A multiple sanding and polishing machine comprising a machine table having a top surface, a power feed unit of shorter length than said table for feeding work to be sanded and polished onto said top surface, a top sanding head including a support, a bracket pivotally connected to said support, an idler pulley supported by said bracket, an adjusting bracket connected to said support, an adjusting slide mounted on said adjusting bracket for holding a tool in a selected position, a side sanding head including a support column, a support connected to said support column, an adjusting bracket connected to said 7 a second mentioned support, a bracket connected to said second mentioned support, a side head idler pulley supported by said second mentionedbracket, means for positioning said second mentioned support along said support column, and a bottom sanding head spaced beyond the end of said feed unit for working'a bottom surface of material passing through said multiple sanding and polishing machine, said feed table, top sanding head, side sanding head, and bottom sanding head being spaced one from another along the length of said machine table.

3. A multiple sanding and polishing machine comprising a machine table, a belt conveyor in said table of shorter length than said table, a top sanding head including a support, a bracket connected to said support, an idler pulley supported by said bracket, and an adjusting bracket connected to said support for holding a tool in a selected position, a side sanding head including a support, an adjusting bracket connected to said second, mentioned support for holding a tool in a selected position, a bracket connected to said second mentioned support, a side head idler pulley supported by said second mentioned bracket, and a bottom sanding head in said machine table spaced beyond the end of said conveyor for working a bottom surface of material passing through said multiple sanding and polishing machine,- said top sanding head, side sanding head and bottom sanding head being spaced one from another along the length of said machine table.

. 4. A multiple sanding and polishing machine comprising a machine table, a conveyor on said table, a top sanding head, a side sanding head and a bottom, sanding head spaced beyond the end of said conveyor, each for working surfaces of material passing through said multiple sanding and polishing machine, said top sanding head, side sanding head and bottom sanding head being spaced one from another along the length of said machine table, and a conveyor means spaced longitudinally on said table from said side and bottom sanding heads.

, 5. In a sanding machine: a feed table having a feed conveyor therein for feeding work to be sanded and polished into said machine at such a speed that slippage of Work on the feed conveyor takes place, a side sanding head, a bottom sanding head, and a conveyor interposed between said first mentioned conveyor and said heads.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS Re. 19,375 11/34' Bronander 19876 1,388,403 8/21 Casella 5174 1,669,989 5/28 Madsen 5l---38 2,000,667 5/35 Osterholm 51-128 X 2,489,811 11/49 Perkins 51147 X 2,579,680 12/51 Leighton 51--102 LESTER M. SW INGLE, Primary Examiner. 

4. A MULTIPLE SANDING AND POLISHING MACHINE COMPRISING A MACHINE TABLE, A CONVEYOR ON SAID TABLE, A TOP SANDING HEAD, A SIDE SANDING HEAD AND A BOTTOM SANDING HEAD SPACED BEYOND THE END OF SAID CONVEYOR, EACH FOR WORKING SURFACES OF MATERIAL PASSING THROUGH SAID MULTIPLE SANDING AND POLISHING MACHINE, SAID TOP SANDING HEAD, SIDE SANDING HEAD AND BOTTOM SANDING HEAD BEING SPACED ONE FROM ANOTHER ALONG THE LENGTH OF SAID MACHINE TABLE, AND A CONVEYOR MEANS SPACED LONGITUDINALLY ON SAID TABLE FROM SAID SIDE AND BOTTOM SANDING HEADS. 